


Dog's Best Friend

by Ray_Writes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azkaban, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Dementors, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23253685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ray_Writes/pseuds/Ray_Writes
Summary: When Rubeus Hagrid is placed in the cell next to notorious murderer Sirius Black, truths are revealed and events are changed.
Relationships: Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Rubeus Hagrid
Comments: 161
Kudos: 375





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all! This idea’s one I’ve been kicking around in my drafts for months, but the recent events being what they are have left me a lot of time to do little else but write so here it is finally completed. There are six chapters including this one, and I will upload the remaining five on each following Saturday. Hopefully by the end of this, things worldwide will have changed for the better.  
> I want to thank the Ginny Lover’s Discord server for their continual support, even when I go months without writing HP-related things they are always so willing to provide encouragement and to reach out. I hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading.

Rubeus shrunk in on himself as best he could manage as the boat stopped against the rock with a _bump._ The choppy water made it nearly impossible for him to climb onto land — and he didn’t much want to besides — but the chain to his shackles was pulled by the two Aurors bringing him here.

Here being Azkaban Prison, of course.

With his very first step onto the rock the fortress sat, Rubeus felt the temperature drop several degrees. The magic of the Dementors at work. Rare was it for Rubeus to meet a creature or beast he didn’t like, but the Dementors were no such thing. They were a force of utter despair.

He still didn’t understand. Didn’t he get a trial or anything? He’d known all of them at the school believed he did it the first time, but that wasn’t grounds for imprisonment. If only Professor Dumbledore weren’t being sabotaged by that Lucius Malfoy, he was sure the Headmaster would’ve done something.

Those poor kids at the school, no one to protect them from whatever the real Heir was using to petrify all those people. At least Harry and Ron would know he was innocent once they went to see Aragog. They might remember him better, then. And once Hermione was woken up with all the other victims, they could tell her, too. He’d never hurt any of them. Never!

One of the Aurors guarding him had his wand out, a silvery light emitting from it. About the only thing keeping the Dementors at bay, he could only imagine. As they entered the prison, he thought he heard something. _“...Rubeus.”_

“What?” He jerked his head around.

“Keep walking,” the wizard at his left elbow said, shoving him.

“Thought I heard summat—”

“Stop dawdling!” The wizards’ teeth were chattering, and he supposed they were as eager to leave as he was. Except he wasn’t going to, and a fresh wave of despair washed over him.

He heard the voice again. _“Come on, Rubeus…”_ And he _knew_ that voice.

“Show yerself!” He growled.

“Losing his mind already,” one of the Aurors remarked. “Must not be made of much, giants.”

“Get him in the cell.”

“Right.”

He was steered around down some steps into darkness. Even he was shivering now, and it was hard to see through the mist that seemed to cloud over everything.

“Got a special place for you. Had to find a big enough space, first, but you should find it quieter down here. Just don’t get him talking.”

Rubeus shook his head to clear it, blinking around at the space. Two cells, one far larger than the other. He could just make out a figure resting in the corner furthest from them. Only a number of bars separated them when Hagrid was shut inside his own cell. An empty cell.

“There’s no bed or nothing!”

“You won’t need one soon enough,” an Auror told him. “Trust me, Hagrid. Do your best to make it a short stay.”

“Come on, back to the boat,” the other Auror grumbled at his partner. “I hate Azkaban duty.”

“Well I don’t much like it neither!” Rubeus called after their retreating backs. The silvery light went with them, and if anything, the cold and the wind got even worse. A bit of sea spray flew in from the tiny window set high in his cell and soaked his hair. He staggered out of the path of that and shook his head to send the droplets flying.

“Hagrid…”

“Huh?” He looked around, but that hadn’t been Tom Riddle’s voice this time. There was still something familiar to it though. He looked across at the occupant of the other cell, who had looked up. “Yeh know me?”

“Can’t imagine anyone who’s passed through Hogwarts in the last fifty years doesn’t know you,” the man in the cell said. His voice was incredibly hoarse, as though he hadn’t had much to say or to drink in a terribly long time. He shifted forward onto all fours before rising up to a decent height for a regular wizard, and his limbs looked practically skeletal. Dark hair, long and scraggly, hung around his shoulders and his gray eyes stared out of a waxen, sunken face. “What did they get you on? Dragon possession at last?”

“They haven’ got nothin’,” Rubeus replied vehemently. The closer the man drew, the more he struck him as familiar, and every bit of sense in him told him he ought to run. But there was nowhere to go; he’d been locked in.

“Innocent? That’s good. It’ll go a long way for you in here.” The man leaned against the bars separating their cells. “Trust me, I should know after eleven years.”

“No.” Rubeus swayed on his feet as it suddenly came to him. That emaciated man couldn’t be who he thought! “Yer not—”

The gaunt face of Sirius Black smiled up at him. “Hello, Hagrid. Been a bit, hasn’t it?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the response so far, everyone! I’m hoping you all like this installment and the direction things will be going. Please enjoy!

It had been a long time since Sirius had had company down here.

The truth was, he preferred it that way. No one around meant the more time he could spend in his Padfoot form, which helped dampen the effects of the Dementors in the moment. Even now, just standing here staring at his new dorm mate of sorts, he thought he could start to hear it…

_“Lily and James! Sirius, how could you?”_

Sirius gave an irritated shake of the head, trying to rid himself of the traitor’s voice. Across from him, Hagrid stepped back, fear and anger in his eyes.

“They can’ have placed me with yeh!”

“Don’t take it personally, Hagrid. You wouldn’t be in good company anywhere in this place.”

“Don’ yeh talk ter me.” Hagrid glared at him and nodded to the far wall with his head. “Go back an’ skulk in yer corner where yeh belong.” The giant man marched over to his own far corner and sat with his back to Sirius. He should have expected as much.

Sirius sighed but did retreat as asked. Of course Hagrid would hate him, thinking he had done what Peter claimed. He might still hate Sirius even if he knew the truth, because Lily and James and those innocent Muggles were all still dead over his mistakes regardless.

As if the Dementors had sensed both their dark moods, a guard glided down the steps towards the cells. Sirius did shrink back in his corner as Hagrid had requested, though more out of self-preservation than consideration.

He could hear Hagrid’s whimpers still, and it both grounded him in reality and frightened him, because as open as the Hogwarts gamekeeper had always been with his emotions, Sirius had never heard him sound abjectly afraid as that.

What was he doing in this miserable place? What crime had the Wizarding World decided to falsely ascribe to one of their own once again? He knew, of course, that his asking wouldn’t be welcomed.

Over the next few days, Hagrid grew worse. He moaned and mumbled in his sleep, sometimes words that sounded like Giant more than English. Sirius picked up a couple patterns, though.

“It wasn’ Aragog, Tom, yeh’ve got it all wrong!”

“Jus’ a little more water, dad… yeh need ter keep yer strength… please, dad…”

“I’ll miss yeh, Norbert. Yeh’ll be happier out in Romania, but- but yeh’ll always have a home here!”

These weren’t the murmurings of a hardened criminal. Any doubt Sirius might have had was cleared away, and he crept over to the bars between their cells.

“You’re innocent, Hagrid. Remember that. Hang onto it like it’s all you’ve got. You’re _innocent._ ”

He could see the haze of misery and torment slowly leave Hagrid’s face as his words sunk in. His breathing grew less labored.

“You’re innocent,” Sirius repeated.

“Blimey,” Hagrid croaked weakly. He crawled over to the dish of somehow stale water that was refilled for each prisoner once a day. When he drank his fill — and Sirius was sure it wasn’t nearly enough for a man his size — he turned his dark eyes on Sirius with suspicion. “How’d yeh know that works?”

“Because it’s how I’ve retained my sanity here,” Sirius said, refusing to bow under Hagrid’s glare.

“Think yer innocent, do yeh?” He growled.

“Of murder? Yes. Of James and Lily’s deaths? No. I am to blame, Hagrid, because it was my plan that led Voldemort—”

Hagrid jumped. “Gulping Gorgons! He let yeh say his name?”

“He didn’t let me do anything. It will be a cold day in Hell before I ever obey Voldemort’s orders.” Hagrid still jumped, but refrained from saying anything. 

Elsewhere in the prison, the inmates were stirring. Perhaps they could sense their dear master’s name being uttered, for it was some of the most crazed whose voices echoed through the stone corridors.

“Curse the traitor! Curse him to ashes!”

“The Dark Lord, he will return for us!”

“If the double-crosser lived, I’d wring his neck like the Muggles! Filth!”

He could see Hagrid eyeing the steps that led up to those higher levels with fear.

“Who’re they talkin’ about?”

“The traitor in the Order. The one who ruined everything that Halloween night, for Voldemort and for me.” Sirius sighed. “Which is why I should have remained the Secret Keeper.”

“Thought yeh _were_ their Secret Keeper.”

“That’s what we told everyone. That was our plan, to use me as a decoy. We thought we were so clever.” He huffed something like a laugh, but it came out weak and brittle. “Peter was the real Secret Keeper.”

“Peter Pettigrew? But yeh killed him,” Hagrid said as though he thought Sirius might have forgotten.

“I wish I had. That was the only thing I could think of once I let you take Harry. Revenge. The rat was counting on it, too. That’s how he lured me out in front of all those Muggles to shout that I had done it before cutting off his finger and blasting the rest of the street apart.”

“But then where’d he go?”

“Down the sewer, I expect. It’s where he belongs,” Sirius said with derision.

“Codswallop,” Hagrid said, leaning away again. “No sense Apparatin’ into a sewer.”

“He wouldn’t have Apparated. He’s got a much better way of disappearing.”

“Oh?”

Sirius eyed the large man. Hagrid was difficult to persuade, but once he was decided would be a friend for life. With no way of knowing how long he’d have to share this section of the prison with him, Sirius didn’t think he wanted to endure the hatred forever. And as long as Hagrid distrusted him, he wouldn’t be able to transform, one of the few creature comforts he had here.

He could have left Hagrid to the madness, of course. Waited till the place drained him of his sense of reality and then just let him believe he was seeing a Grim curled up in the corner. But it wouldn’t have been right.

“What I’m about to tell you has only ever been known by five people. Two of them are dead, and one presumed to be. Do you want to hear it?”

He watched and waited as Hagrid thought it over, both hoping and dreading that he might say yes. There would be no going back once he did.

\---

Rubeus didn’t know whether it was the madness they said that set in here or something else, but the more that he thought over the things Black was saying, the more they started to make sense. More sense than what had happened, at least.

Why would the Potters have told the Order who their Secret Keeper was if they’d all known there might be a spy? James and Lily had been a clever pair; they wouldn’t have risked it.

Black was willing to say his own supposed Dark Lord’s name. Even Professor Snape up at the school never dared do that, and Professor Dumbledore vouched for his dedication to the light side personally.

Though if Black claimed he hadn’t been the one to blow up the street, why hadn’t they checked his wand? Why had none of this come up at the trial? Except, come to think of it, Rubeus couldn’t remember anything about a trial in the first place.

Surely there’d been one? Yet there’d been none for Rubeus himself either of the times he’d been accused of this Heir of Slytherin business. It wasn’t impossible that they’d chucked Black into Azkaban the same way they had him.

“Well, yeh can’t promise to tell someone somethin’ an’ not tell ‘em,” he said eventually.

Something flickered in Black’s eyes, like a little light sputtering briefly to life. “Alright. This is how Peter would have gotten away.”

He moved back onto his haunches and fluidly shifted form, fur sprouting from his arms, legs and face as his nose lengthened out into a snout and his ears stood straight up. Rubeus’ mouth dropped.

“Yeh- yer an Animagus!”

The great black dog stood in the next cell watching him. A different sort of fellow than Fang and far less healthy at that. Rubeus could easily count each of the animal’s ribs beneath the dirty fur. He padded forward, meeting him there as Rubeus only then noted he’d reached a hand out. Black allowed him to pat the top of his head once before sitting back, tail wagging twice before stilling.

“But yeh’ve got ter be illegal.”

The dog gave a nod before Black was suddenly sitting back in his place. “We all were. James, Peter and I. We taught ourselves the transformation in school, to keep Remus company in the Shack.”

Rubeus wondered at that for a moment. Three students mastering that kind of Transfiguration work, and under Professor McGonagall’s watch at that! All to help their friend, poor Remus Lupin.

“An’ yeh think Peter survived ‘cause of his bein’ an Animagus?”

“He could have easily slipped away. His form should have really been quite telling to us. He was a rat.”

Rubeus frowned. He personally believed rats, like many creatures, had an unfair reputation amongst humans, wizards and Muggles alike. But he’d read enough about Animaguses in the Hogwarts library to know that the form they took often spoke of some part of their true nature. As a symbol, the rat was clear.

And so was the dog. Loyalty, companionship.

He’d been so dismayed when the story had come out about Sirius betraying the Potters all those years ago. It had seemed unthinkable. Had that really been because it _was_ unthinkable?

He retreated back to the far side of his cell for a time, needing to think some things over. If Sirius had been out for revenge after You-Know-Who’s fall, he wouldn’t have given little Harry up, would he have? He would have killed him. And with no trial, they never really _had_ proved his guilt. Just like Rubeus.

The occasional rantings of the Death Eaters in their cells about the traitor filtered down to his ears. “Pettigrew! I’ll rip his sorry excuse for a spine out of his throat!” A frightening cackle followed that particular declaration from who Rubeus knew in his bones was Bellatrix Lestrange. The knowledge that he was laying only a few floors below You-Know-Who’s right-hand woman filled him with dread. But she would know better than anyone, wouldn’t she?

One night, after the Dementors finally drifted past their cells, Rubeus locked eyes with Sirius. The man responsible for him even still having his wits about him. “I believe yeh.”

Something almost like a smile twisted the thin lips in his waxen face.

Azkaban Prison, while by no means less miserable, became a far less lonely place now that he’d realized he had a friend to rely on.

Sirius knew the schedule of the Dementors like clockwork. He knew when food would be coming, and he even knew how many days Rubeus had been here. It helped to remind him he had had a life outside of here once. They both had.

He never asked about Harry, and that bothered Rubeus until he realized why. The few times he thought about those kids, the Dementors would swoop in, sensing the fond memories. They hungered for them. So soon, Rubeus did his best not to think about Harry, Ron or Hermione either, except when he worried about them.

The days went on, and no word or visits from Professor Dumbledore sank his spirits. Was he really so busy, or was it his dislike for Azkaban keeping him away? He knew the Headmaster believed in his innocence, unlike with Sirius. But if Professor Dumbledore would only come to see him, Rubeus could help to explain all of that, too.

He told Sirius all about the Chamber, how he had been blamed fifty years ago and gotten expelled, and how Minister Fudge had gotten the papers together to have him sent here now that people were being petrified again.

“Forgive me if this is blunt, but Hagrid… you’re half-giant, yes?”

Rubeus frowned. “An’ if I am?”

“It seems ridiculous to me that you would care anything at all about petrifying muggleborns, then.” Sirius leaned his head back and arched an eyebrow. “Particularly when purebloods are the ones who have given the giants such trouble over the years.”

Rubeus shrugged helplessly. “Don’ like drawin’ attention to it. Makes things more difficult for me.”

“Yes, I suppose it would.” Sirius lapsed into silence then, and Rubeus allowed it. They could go days sometimes just saying nothing, each of them wondering how long this might go on.

Once in a while, Rubeus thought of a question.

“Why don’ yeh just slip the bars an’ leave here one o’ these days? Yer thin enough in yer Animagus form.”

“And go where? I couldn’t see Harry, couldn’t check on anyone from the old days. I’d be hunted down until I was recaptured for the Dementor’s Kiss.” They both shuddered.

Tom’s voice still came now and then when the Dementors were near. His dad’s feeble gasps of breath, too. But they were never as intense as those first few days, now that he had the mantra of _innocent, innocent_ drilled into his head.

Sirius visited him in his cell in his dog form often, for which he was grateful. In that stage between sleeping and waking, he could pretend it was Fang’s head resting on his leg back home in his hut.

And that’s when the idea came to him. “Yeh do have somewhere ter go. With me!”

The great black dog looked up at him, blinking in a way that clearly said he thought Rubeus had cracked again.

“Soon as the real Heir goes back ter terrorizin’ the school, they’ll have ter see they were wrong abou’ me,” Rubeus reasoned. “They’ll have ter let me out. And when they do, I’ll be goin’ back ter Hogwarts.” He sat up straighter in his excitement as the plan started to fall into place in his head. “Yeh wait a few days, slip out o’ here and swim ter shore. I’ll meet yeh, and say a friend o’ mine gifted me a new dog fer all the trouble I’ve had lately. Then yeh can stay at Hogwarts with no one the wiser!”

The dog stood up and changed back into Sirius. “That’s not a bad thought. You’re sure Dumbledore won’t want to know where I’ve come from?”

Rubeus waved a hand. “Never asked before. Respects me privacy, he does. He’s a great man, no matter what Lucius Malfoy an’ his ilk have to say.”

“This is all assuming you ever get out of here, mind,” Sirius pointed out, and he felt his excitement drain as quickly as if a Dementor had just glided into the space. Sirius transformed again and returned to his own cell, curling up on the floor.

It had been nearly two months. Was he really going to be here the rest of his days?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Saturday, another chapter! Very glad to have received so much feedback on this idea so far, and I’m hoping things continue to get better as we go. Thanks so much for reading, and please enjoy!

One day, not long after Hagrid had come to share his wing of the prison, everything changed once again.

It started with the flap of wings. Sirius almost didn’t recognize the sound. No bird with any sense ever came here except to deliver the post, and then it went straight to the warden’s office and wasn’t heard out here.

But someone’s owl had gotten very confused, indeed, for it came flapping in a limping sort of way down onto the floor in front of Hagrid’s cell. His friend glanced up from a half-doze.

“Eh? Who’s that?”

The warden came running, panting and out of breath. He must have chased the daft bird through half the prison, Sirius noted with some amusement. “Here now, give it!”

He snatched the letter from the bedraggled owl and then hauled it off by one leg. Sirius could hear him barking at the Dementors to stay back as he retreated back to his office.

Once the noises had faded away, Sirius risked transforming and crossing over to Hagrid’s cell. He changed back once on the other side. “Any idea what that might have been about?”

Hagrid shrugged his enormous shoulders. “Didn’ get a good enough look at the little feller, but he seemed familiar, I thought.”

Sirius didn’t doubt Hagrid made it a point to get acquainted with every owl and other creature that ever crossed his path. He’d have done better to try and get a glimpse at the name on the envelope, but then Sirius hadn’t had enough time to do that either so it was probably expecting too much.

Only a short while later, it didn’t matter much anyway. Footsteps returned, so Sirius quickly raced back to his own cell and transformed as the warden came back with a jangling set of keys.

“Rubeus Hagrid?”

“That’d be me,” Hagrid replied, sitting up a little straighter. Just the dignity of being seen and addressed by other people could really do wonders.

“You’re being released. Seems there was some sort of mix-up.”

“Wha— yeh mean it?”

Sirius nearly fell over. All the time Hagrid had been saying that he’d be released, he had done his best not to point out just how unlikely of a scenario that was. And yet it was happening in front of his very eyes.

Hagrid rose up onto his feet in one great rush, seeming to fill the space with his form and his voice. “Blimey, an’ not a moment too soon if yeh ask me!”

“Stand back while I find the key,” the warden said. Apparently even he felt his magic dampened by this place if he couldn’t manage a simple _Alohomora._

The prisoners on floors above were stirring now. They could sense the change, it seemed, and under cover of the ruckus that was starting to rise, Hagrid turned to him with a whisper. “Remember the plan, alrigh’?”

Sirius nodded numbly. For the first time since entering Azkaban, he started to truly wonder about his grip on his sanity. It couldn’t really be so easy, could it?

As quickly as Hagrid had arrived, he was gone. It would be easy to convince himself he’d never been there, and part of Sirius wondered if he should. What was the purpose of breaking out? Even if he could see Harry — _Harry_ — it would be through the filter of a pet. He could never really know the boy, help him, be there for him the way he was meant to have been. It might just be so much worse. So close yet never able to truly connect to his godson.

He was still considered guilty by the rest of the Wizarding World. Hagrid’s belief in him was the slightest balm, but there was no way the half-giant could sway the public perception of what happened all those years ago. He would never get to walk about free the way his friend had been granted.

Days turned to weeks and Sirius continued to stew in these miserable thoughts. Did he even have the strength to swim to shore all the way from Azkaban? He could barely think of a suitable motivation to rise from the ratty nest of his bedding to eat or relieve himself.

Yet again, everything changed one day.

The glow of a Patronus preceded the sound of footsteps, and Sirius again had the time to change back into his human form. Was it possibly Hagrid? Someone sent on his behalf?

Sirius found himself disappointed. It was the Minister, here for one of his routine inspections. He wasn’t sure what to make of Cornelius Fudge in all honesty; he’d never been aware of the man during the war and highly suspected he was one of those political opportunists who had waited until the dust surrounding Barty Crouch settled before making his move up the ladder.

He had to note the newspaper tucked under the man’s arm with some amusement. Fudge certainly wanted to project an air of not being bothered by the place, didn’t he? It didn’t escape Sirius’ notice either that Fudge was not the one casting the Patronus. An Auror who appeared to be there for the Minister’s protection was seeing to that.

“Ah Black, still here are you?” Fudge asked, the slightest nervous tremor to his voice. Sirius knew his relative presence of mind unnerved people.

“In the flesh, Minister. Welcome to Azkaban.”

“Yes, very charming.” Fudge looked about the space. “Well, this all looks in order.” He quickly turned on his heel, looking eager to leave.

“Minister,” said Sirius. He wasn’t sure why. Perhaps he’d gotten used to talking to other people when Hagrid had been here and didn’t want to lose it again so suddenly. “Were you done with the paper?”

“Why?” Fudge asked with narrowed eyes.

“I wondered if I could have it,” Sirius answered. “I used to do the crossword a lot.” It was the whole reason he’d had a subscription from first year on. James has always been amused by his little habit, called him an old man for it. Maybe there had been truth in it; he’d picked up the habit from helping Uncle Alphard with the puzzles as a boy.

“Missed it, have you?” Fudge looked about and blew out a breath with a sigh. “Very well.” He probably thought himself incredibly magnanimous granting such a request, but Sirius kept his expression polite as Fudge tossed the paper through the bars. He waited until the man had departed to move forward and pick it up, not wanting a sudden movement to startle Fudge’s guard.

Sirius had no quill, of course, but he could do his best to memorize which answers went where and how they fit. He first turned to the articles contained in the rest of the paper; Uncle Alphard had shown him how the answers often related to their contents.

It felt strange reading the news, holding a piece of current information in his hands, like a moment out of time. Part of him wanted to savor it.

But then his eyes froze on a photo of a family, and one boy in that family in particular. The shoulder of that boy, to be exact, where there sat a very particular rat.

_Peter._

Could he really be seeing him? After all this time? But sure enough, there was a toe missing on one of the rat’s front paws. Hadn’t the guards who tossed him in his cell all those years ago said a finger was all that had been left of Pettigrew to find?

 _Arthur Weasley with his wife and children in Egypt, celebrating their winning of the Daily Prophet Grand Prize,_ the caption read. The Weasleys had Peter?

Well, what they clearly thought they had was a rat. Peter was sticking close to make sure he knew what was happening in the world, then. With Voldemort and his followers. With Harry, even.

And it hit Sirius as he stared down at the waving, smiling brood of children — no doubt all of them with red hair. Most of them looked Hogwarts age. Especially the boy. Which meant that Peter had a way to get to Harry.

Sirius barely refrained from ripping the paper in half. Instead, he threw it aside and started pacing, his mind turning over everything he’d just realized. Pettigrew was a coward; he wouldn’t go after Harry unless it somehow curried favor with someone who could protect him. But Sirius didn’t know if it would, not from here, trapped as he was behind bars and knowing very little of what the Wizarding World was like these days. He could only know out there, and suddenly Hagrid’s idea didn’t seem unachievable or not worth the risk and effort at all.

He had something to live for out there. More importantly, he had someone to fight for and protect. If Pettigrew was hiding out with a Wizarding family who had school-aged children, then Hagrid had been right: Hogwarts was precisely where Sirius needed to be to protect his godson. He couldn’t let Peter have the chance to get to him.

He did his best to rest up, sleeping when he could, forcing himself to finish the horrible food and stale water. Hogwarts. He needed to be able to make the journey to Hogwarts. Where Hagrid was, and where Harry and Peter would be.

“He’s at Hogwarts,” he mumbled to himself before dropping off to sleep for one final night. The summer was passing him by, and he needed to be at the school before term started again. He would make his move the next day.

\---

Rubeus felt like he was swimming through a dream the further the little boat took him from Azkaban Prison. The weight of sadness and despair melted completely away, and he let out a delighted laugh. Neither of his escort joined in, but then they just wouldn’t understand.

They sent him via Portkey to the gates of Hogwarts, and Rubeus just barely made the Leaving Feast. He was delighted to see the students and even old Mrs. Norris fully restored to health, and if the murmurings he was hearing over the meal were anything to go by, young Harry and Ron had a lot to do with the real culprit being caught.

He didn’t get much time to speak to either of them or Hermione, though he did check to make sure she was alright after her ordeal. Rubeus was sad to see all the students go; it was the first time in all his years at Hogwarts that he’d missed so much of the year.

But then, he supposed he’d need the time off this summer to go collect Sirius once he escaped and to establish him as part of Rubeus’ family.

Yet the days passed and no word of Sirius’ escape came. Had it not worked? Had he been caught? If he had been, he’d surely have been Kissed, and Rubeus didn’t know if that was something the _Prophet_ would bother to print. He had no way of inquiring without raising suspicion either.

Maybe Sirius was just waiting a little longer to throw any suspicions off him, Rubeus thought. Maybe he didn’t want people knowing they were working together. That would be the sort of thing someone as clever as Sirius had been back in school would think of. Though as the days turned into weeks and then a month, Rubeus started to wonder if Sirius was ever escaping.

And then, on an otherwise normal day in the middle of the summer holiday, the news broke.

“Escape from Azkaban!” A young man holding copies of the _Evening Prophet_ exclaimed as he threw open the door of The Three Broomsticks. A number of patrons and even Rosmerta gasped. “Sirius Black!”

“Black?”

“Merlin, it can’t be!”

The others all rushed to grab the paper. Rubeus gulped down the rest of his drink and left the pub. He jogged up the path to the school grounds and to his Hut, patting Fang on the head when he came in.

“I’ll be takin’ a trip, Fang,” Rubeus told him as he threw some supplies in an old mokeskin pouch he had hanging off a chair. “Got ter get yer new friend.”

He went up to the castle to see Professor Dumbledore. The Headmaster was in his office answering letters when he called Rubeus in. “Ah, Hagrid. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Beggin’ yer pardon Professor Dumbledore,” Rubeus began. “I though’ I’d let yeh know I’m heading out for a few days ter see a friend.”

“A bit of a holiday? You certainly deserve one after Cornelius’ error this past year. Might I ask what your plans are?”

Rubeus shrugged. “Might fish.”

“Wonderful. I had hoped to discuss a staff matter with you tomorrow, but I suppose — well, perhaps the time away will allow you to think it over. As you may have heard, Professor Kettleburn will not be rejoining us next term.”

Rubeus nodded. “He told me somethin’ about it.”

“Yes, which leaves me in search of two new professors for our upcoming year. I’m hoping that the matter of Care of Magical Creatures may be settled in-house, so to speak. That is, if you would like the position.”

Rubeus gaped. “Me? A professor?”

“I can hardly think of anyone more knowledgeable in the subject matter. You don’t need to answer right away.”

“It’d be an honor, Professor Dumbledore sir!”

“Excellent. We’ll discuss the details when you return from your holiday.”

For a moment, Rubeus was overcome with the urge to tell the Headmaster just where he was taking his holiday and which friend he was planning to meet. But then, Professor Dumbledore might not understand what Rubeus had learned while he was in prison. And he needed to get Sirius’ say-so before he brought it up with anyone else, he felt. Maybe once he’d gotten him back to Hogwarts and they could talk things over, he could convince him that telling Professor Dumbledore was the best thing to do.

“Right then. Best finish me packing. Thank yeh, Professor. I’ll start drawin’ up the plans an’ all the minute I get back. The very minute!”

He turned to go, but the Headmaster’s voice calling out to him paused him just inside the doorway.

“Oh Hagrid, do be careful. I received a Floo call from Cornelius only half an hour ago about the news no doubt everyone in Hogsmeade is discussing by now.”

“Then it’s true about, er, Black?” Rubeus asked, remembering at the last moment he ought not refer to the man as he would a friend.

“I’m afraid so. Very troubling news,” Professor Dumbledore said, his hands steepled together as he gazed down at his desk. “We must all be cautious, as there’s no telling what twelve years in Azkaban may have done to him. He could be quite dangerous.”

“O’ course, Professor.” Rubeus left as quickly as he could, hating to lie to the Headmaster and hating to leave the assumptions about Sirius unquestioned. But they could straighten it all out, he was sure of it.

He made arrangements to have Fang and some of the other more dependent creatures looked after during his brief absence, then headed to the coast. He had a general knowledge about the currents and the closest points between the mainland and where Azkaban was said to be located. A tricky thing to pin down even for someone who’d been there since it was Unplottable. 

Rubeus knew it might take some time for him to come across Sirius, if Sirius was even still out this way. It was hard to know what the plan was now that they’d already strayed from some of it.

He found the dog at last on the third day, just after dawn. He was sprawled on his side just ahead of the tide, seemingly too tired to make it any further up the beach. Hagrid ran down and scooped the thin body up in his hands, carrying him back to the encampment he’d made.

Sirius did not stir until breakfast was sizzling away in the pan, and Rubeus was fairly sure it had only been his nose that woke him. He jerked up and trotted over to the pan.

“Hullo, there! Got some sausage ready.” He held a link out on a fork and watched the animal scarf it down. Hagrid fed him three more at the exact same pace. The dog licked his chops and stared at the next few still cooking.

“Oh, alrigh’. Yeh can have those, too.”

The great black dog reared up and placed his paws on Rubeus’s arm, licking at his cheek just above his beard. Rubeus laughed and scratched him behind the ears.

“Plenty more where this came from back at Hogwarts.” He peered at the dog. “What took yeh so long, hey?”

Sirius’ tail stopped wagging before the dog disappeared altogether to be replaced by the man. He swiped a hand across the back of his mouth where some drool remained. “Hard to find the motivation.”

Hagrid supposed that made a fair bit of sense. Trying to picture himself alone in Azkaban without a friend… he shuddered to think.

“But yeh found it.”

“I did.” Sirius’ eyes turned dark. “I know where Pettigrew is.”

Hagrid gave a start. Peter Pettigrew, still alive? Even if Sirius’ version of events made more sense, Rubeus had assumed little Peter must have either fled far from here or died to have not been seen all this time. “How d’yeh figure that?”

“He was in a photo in the paper,” Sirius explained, a sort of feverish note in his voice as he launched into the tale. “They photographed the Weasley family for winning the Grand Prize, and he was sitting right there in his Animagus form on the boy’s shoulder.”

Rubeus frowned, thinking. The Weasleys and a rat? He gave a start. “Yeh don’ mean Ron’s pet?”

“You know the boy?”

“Course I do. He’s one o’ the students, an’ Harry’s best friend ter boot!”

“Damn!” Sirius got up, kicking at a stone with his bare foot. He didn’t seem to react to the pain that had to cause. “I’ve got to get to Pettigrew first. Now that he knows I’m out, he might grow desperate.” He made a rapid turn towards Rubeus. “Where do the Weasleys live?”

“Near Devon, far as I remember. But hold on, yeh can’ go charging into their house!”

“Can’t I?”

He shook his head, then took the pan off the fire and set it aside to cool. “He’ll know the place better’n yeh, fer one thing. He’s had twelve years ter learn it.” Now that he was thinking of it, it seemed strange he hadn’t noticed just how old the Weasleys’ rat was. Then again, he hadn’t known Percy very well when he first brought it to school, and everything the Weasleys owned was a bit old. They did their best to make things last.

“Let Ron bring the rat back ter Hogwarts, an’ I’ll ask him ter see it.”

Sirius frowned. “Do you do that normally? Peter might get suspicious.”

“Well, I can work on how ter say it,” he offered. “Maybe I’ll tell him it’s fer one o’ me lessons, seeing as Professor Dumbledore’s asked me ter take over Care of Magical Creatures from Professor Kettleburn an’ all.” He puffed out his chest a little proudly at the reminder.

“That’s fantastic, Hagrid,” Sirius said quickly. “If you can bring him to your Hut, that will probably be the best place. I’ll only have one chance at this, so the more closed-in he is, the better.”

“Chance at what?” Rubeus peered at him. “Yer not thinkin’ o’ jus’ _killing_ him?”

“I served twelve years for doing so. Might as well be guilty of it.”

“But what abou’ Harry?”

“I’ll be keeping him safe by getting Pettigrew away from him.”

“He needs more’n bein’ safe. He needs to be happy. Have a family. Someone who knows where he came from. Yeh an’ James were thicker’n thieves. Don’ yeh think Harry would want ter know the things yeh do?”

Sirius was silent.

“Look, if we catch him, yeh can be a free man, see? We’ll catch him an’ show him ter Professor Dumbledore. He’ll listen. He’ll have ter know yer innocent once he sees the proof Pettigrew’s alive. Then yeh can meet Harry for real, person to person.”

He could see Sirius was thinking about it. Slowly he sank down to sit on one of the logs Rubeus had set out near the fire, and the wild look receded from his eyes.

“I could be there for him.” It was almost a question.

“Sure yeh could. Do him a lotta good.”

“Alright,” he agreed. “We’ll stick to your plan. But Hagrid, no one else can know until we’ve caught Pettigrew. Not even Professor Dumbledore.”

He nodded and picked up the pan, holding it out to Sirius. The starved man snatched up all but one sausage, scarfing them all down. Rubeus took his own and bit off a piece, and it felt rather like they’d sealed a deal.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much again to you all for the responses on the previous chapters. I’m very happy people are liking the story so far. There will be two more chapters after this one, so we’re just over halfway done. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

It felt strange walking up to the gates of Hogwarts in his Animagus form in broad daylight. Stranger still to see his own face staring down at him from the wanted posters pinned up everywhere; he didn’t even remember that photo being taken. He’d stayed at Hagrid’s side all through Hogsmeade village, and not one person had given them a second glance. Hagrid was known to keep pets, after all.

They veered left once on the grounds instead of continuing up the path to the castle. Hagrid led them up to his front door, getting out his keys as he did so. Before he could place it in the lock, there came a loud _thud_ and a booming bark.

“Get back, Fang, let us through! He misses me is all,” Hagrid added over his shoulder to Sirius, who waited with some apprehension for the door to open and this Fang to be revealed. Things would be much more difficult if he found he wasn’t welcome in Hagrid’s home.

“Hullo, Fang!” Hagrid greeted as the door swung wide.

Fang was huge and black much like Sirius’ own form when in better health — but he slobbered all over Hagrid with a joyful yowl. Hagrid chuckled and scratched him on the head.

“Yeh bin good while I was away? Look who I’ve brought with me. Fang, this is Grimm.”

They’d realized just before breaking camp that morning that Hagrid would need to give him a name. Sirius had decided against the old nickname he’d used with his friends — too risky that Peter might catch wind, or that one of the other professors might remember. They hadn’t exactly been discrete about calling each other the names, at any rate. 

Hagrid had decided on Grimm as his own little joke. “People think Grims are terrible things, but they’re not at all — just like you!”

In the moment, Fang clambered down the steps towards him, an intense look of concentration on his face. Sirius knew that other animals could sometimes tell there was more to him than met the eye, even if they didn’t know exactly what.

So he dropped and rolled onto his side to show he didn’t want a fight or to displace Fang; he was a guest here for at least the time it would take to capture Peter, not a usurper. Fang came up and sniffed him, then slowly lowered to the floor as well, his tail wagging. Were he younger, Sirius suspected that the boarhound would wish to play.

“See? Knew yeh’d both get on just fine. Alright, let’s have a cuppa.”

Sirius jumped up and followed behind Hagrid and Fang into the little one-room cabin. Hagrid pulled down a couple mugs and set about preparing a fresh pot.

Hagrid’s Hut had a couple high-set windows with curtains drawn partially across them. He clearly thought that meant Sirius was safe to transform, and Sirius felt inclined to agree. Now that he was free of the Dementor’s ever-looming presence, he wanted to experience some of his life as a human rather than just a dog — Yet a knock sounded on the front door, and he shrunk back on all fours while Fang rushed forward.

Hagrid cast a nervous glance in his direction before striding over. “Back, Fang. Oh! Professor Dumbledore!”

Sirius, if anything, tried to make himself even smaller. He hadn’t wanted to attract the Headmaster’s attention so soon. Did he perhaps already know? Of course he knew, and now Sirius was going straight back to Azkaban where he’d receive the Dementor’s Kiss, and Pettigrew would be free to do whatever he liked to Harry—

“Hagrid, welcome back,” Dumbledore greeted warmly. “I trust you had a relaxing time on your holiday?”

“Er, yeah. Very good time. All set ter be back ter work.” Hagrid was practically exuding nerves as he allowed Dumbledore past him. This was not going to go well at all.

“I see you’re expecting company,” Dumbledore said, gesturing to the two mugs sitting out. Sirius did his best not to wince.

“Oh, that!” Hagrid hurried to pick one of the mugs up. “Thought one of ‘em might’a bin chipped. But they’re fine. Er, would yeh like some tea, Professor Dumbledore?”

“Why, thank you, Hagrid.” Dumbledore sat at the table, scratching the top of Fang’s head when the dog sat beside him. His eyes cast about the room and landed on Sirius, widening in surprise for a moment.

“Made a new friend, have you, Hagrid?”

“What?” Hagrid nearly dropped the teapot. “Oh. That, er, that’s Grimm. Got him off a friend who found him. He thought I might like looking after him. He’d bin abused, yeh know?”

Dumbledore nodded. “He does seem quite thin for his size.”

“That he is. So don’ take no offense if he doesn’ come up to greet yeh. Nothin’ personal in it.”

“Of course.” The Headmaster’s curious gaze left Sirius at last, and he turned to the half-giant with a smile. “Hagrid, your capacity for seeing the good in all things is a gift I admire.” He quite happily accepted the mug of tea set before him, and Hagrid sat in his own chair as well. “As I recall, you have accepted the position of Care of Magical Creatures Professor for this upcoming term. I am happy to say that we have also secured a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.”

“Yeh did? Figured it’d be slim pickin’s after Lockhart.”

“Yes, well it did take some convincing, but after the recent news I had thought it best to reach out, and we naturally came around to the subject. Our latest addition to staff is none other than Remus Lupin.”

It took everything in Sirius not to yelp in astonishment, and he sank down low to the floor. Remus was coming here? Of all the rotten luck.

“He’ll be a good one. Remus really knew his stuff in school.”

“Yes, I’m very happy with his acceptance. And with the latest advancements in potion making, there will be no need to use the Willow. Severus has agreed to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for Remus.”

 _Severus?_ Surely not the same one — yet it had to be, for what were the chances two parents would inflict that name on someone let alone one? But if it was the same, Sirius didn’t see how Snape could be at Hogwarts, let alone in a position to agree to brew something for Remus’ benefit. He’d be more likely to poison him instead!

“He’ll sleep locked in his quarters during the full moons and likely require a substitute if it should fall on nights before classes, but — I say, Hagrid, is Grimm quite well?”

Sirius only realized then that he had started growling.

Hagrid gave a much louder laugh than necessary. “Jus’ hungry is all! I better get him somethin’. Let me just—” Rather than finish, he simply turned around and started searching about his cabinets.

“Well, I believe I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll leave you to settle in.” Dumbledore sipped once more at the mug — he couldn’t have gotten through half of it, but it was giant-portioned after all — and rose from the table. “Thank you very much, Hagrid.”

“An’ thank you, Professor. I’ll come up fer dinner one of these nights and bring some lesson plans, eh?”

“That would be lovely.” Dumbledore smiled down at Fang, who had walked over to see him out, and glanced once more at Sirius before departing.

Hagrid abandoned his search for food to watch out the window, relaxing after a few minutes with a sigh. “It’s all fine.”

Sirius transformed back. “That was too close.”

“Nah, it wasn’t. Course, didn’ help none when yeh got yer hackles raised abou’ Snape,” Hagrid said, frowning down at him in disapproval.

“What’s he doing here?” Sirius demanded. As if he didn’t already have Peter to worry about.

“He’s a teacher, that’s what.”

Sirius snorted. “As if. Snape couldn’t stand watching his own peers make the slightest mistake. It offended his sense that he could and should be the one doing it better. No way he’d sign up to preside over a bunch of children struggling to learn.”

“He didn’ have much choice after the war. Professor Dumbledore vouched for him turning spy fer our side, an’ folks wanted Dumbledore to keep an eye on him.”

“So they wanted him put in charge of their _kids?_ ” Even growing up in this world, Sirius often wondered where other wizards and witches kept their brains. “I shudder to think what a beast he’s been.”

“Never mind him,” Hagrid told him. “What abou’ Remus? He knows yeh can transform, don’ he?”

Sirius sank down into Dumbledore’s vacated chair. “He does. I’ll have to leave before he gets here.”

“I can’ lose me dog jus’ after I got him,” Hagrid argued.

“But he’ll tell Dumbledore! Or he has, or — but then Dumbledore would’ve known it was me,” he reasoned. And Dumbledore would have acted, not just left him with Hagrid.

So Remus hadn’t said. Not even now, when Sirius had escaped. He had to know his Animagus form was at least part of how he was staying hidden. Was it possible he thought Sirius might be innocent, that he still cared about their friendship?

But no. Sirius realized it in the next instance. Revealing what he knew about Sirius meant revealing James and Peter’s own crimes in becoming illegal Animagi. He was protecting _their_ memories — never mind Peter was alive — and possibly his own freedom. His condition could in all likelihood come out, too. It was good, still, that Remus hadn’t said in that case. Sirius would hate to be the cause of more suffering to him.

“Alright, I’ll stay. But we’ll have to be careful Remus doesn’t see me. Don’t invite him round, don’t talk to him about your new pet. Don’t give him any reason to suspect something.” As soon as Remus came across evidence he couldn’t in good conscious ignore, he would feel forced to act. So long as it never came to that, they wouldn’t have to worry.

“The professors don’ tend to come round here fer much. Think it’ll be alrigh’. Besides, we’ll be catchin’ that rat before Remus can catch wind o’ yeh,” Hagrid assured him with a smile.

Sirius sighed wearily. “I wish I could share your confidence.”

Perhaps it was the effect of Azkaban on him after so long, but Sirius couldn’t bring himself to hope. If they didn’t catch Pettigrew when they had the chance, Sirius would be caught and Harry would be vulnerable. He’d already failed once. Was history only destined to repeat itself?

\---

It was a bit strange cohabitating in his Hut with another person, even if that person was a dog most of the time. But he and Sirius were fairly used to each other after their time in Azkaban.

Sirius slept on the floor still. There wasn’t much room to put in a second bed, and after the near-slip with Professor Dumbledore and the extra mug, Sirius refused to risk leaving any evidence of a second human’s presence in the place. He ate out of a bowl like Fang and slept curled up near the fire with him, too. 

It didn’t feel right in a way, or perhaps undignified. The way Fang lived was perfectly fine for him, of course, but Sirius wasn’t fully a dog, and in some ways Rubeus wondered if he was just keeping him in a slightly nicer prison. At the least, his frame was filling back out, and he looked far more healthy for a dog his size.

The rest of summer seemed to fly by. He filled the time with writing out his plans and arranging for some of the creatures he wanted to show the students. Rubeus also picked out the textbook he wanted them to use.

“It’s funny, isn’ it?” He asked his guest. “All it takes is just a stroke down the side, then it’s calm as can be.”

“You might want to include that in the directions,” Sirius suggested, never taking his eyes off the wildly snapping book. “It can be lesson number one.”

“Yeh think so?” Rubeus shrugged and added a postscript to the letter he was composing to Harry for his birthday. He stroked the book’s spine and wrapped it in some packaging. It likely wouldn’t wake again till it was opened.

“Want ter send somethin’ yerself?”

“Send something?”

“To Harry. His birthday’s next week, yeh know?”

“I do. But I haven’t got anything. Anyway, he wouldn’t understand.” Sirius turned and slunk off in his Animagus form before Rubeus could reply. He tended to do that when he wasn’t in a mood to talk.

It was strange. Sirius seemed to care about Harry, but there was a distance to it. Maybe because he’d only known the boy from a distance. Or maybe he thought that, even if they succeeded in catching Pettigrew and clearing his name, Harry wouldn’t want much to do with him. He’d grown very quiet the one time Rubeus had mentioned Harry was living with his relatives during the summer. But Harry hardly liked them, and for good reason! And he was the welcoming sort; he’d be happy to know Sirius.

So Rubeus took to spending the last few weeks of summer loudly recollecting all his favorite stories and memories about Harry, whether Sirius was in his Animagus form or not. He could tell they were heard; Sirius’ ears always perked up at the first mention of Harry’s name.

During the last week of summer, all the staff present was called to a meeting. Not among them was Remus: the full moon had been the previous night, so he was no doubt recovering before making the journey to Hogwarts.

Professor Dumbledore looked uncharacteristically grave as they all sat down. “I’ve just had word from the Minister. I’d been hoping this precaution could be avoided, but as Sirius Black has yet to be caught, he is adamant about increasing Hogwarts’ security. Despite my advisement to the contrary, Dementors will be placed around the school as guards.

Several gasps went around the room.

“No!” Rubeus stood, knocking into the table roughly. Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey both looked at him with sympathy. Slowly, he retook his seat.

“Cornelius has assured me they will not come into the grounds. They are to stay outside of the gates to ensure that Black does not slip through Hogwarts’ defenses.”

“How can we be sure the students will be safe, Albus?” Professor McGonagall asked.

“I will be keeping a close watch on the situation, Minerva. Unfortunately, that is the best we can do with the Minister so determined.”

Rubeus hardly paid attention to anything else spoken about at the meeting, which he knew wasn’t the right thing to do as a new teacher, but he found he could focus on little else but the fear. The Dementors were coming here to where Sirius was. What if they sensed him? What if they came to his home? He couldn’t imagine feeling the way he had on the island again, the complete lack of anything but loneliness and despair, only abated by Sirius’ company.

As soon as Professor Dumbledore adjourned the meeting, Rubeus headed back home, panting by the time he climbed the steps and slammed the door behind him.

“The Minister’s sendin’ Dementors ter Hogwarts!”

Sirius leapt up, changing form. “They’re coming for me?”

He shook his head. “Just want ter protect the students. Can they sense yeh from the gates?”

“No. Not so long as I stay in my Animagus form.” Sirius’ shoulders sagged a little in relief. “This will mean that the plan is entirely up to you. My life in your hands, Hagrid.”

He gulped.

Sirius gave a bracing smile, one that Rubeus wasn’t sure either of them believed. “Good luck.”

Dog replaced man, and Rubeus found himself shakily pulling the kettle out for another pot of tea. So much was counting on him: a man’s innocence; a criminal’s capture; a boy’s happiness. He couldn’t let them all down. He just couldn’t.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Apologies for the lateness of this chapter – we were celebrating my sister’s birthday yesterday, and I just didn’t have the time. However, big things are happening in this chapter, so I hope it makes up for the wait. Thanks for your patience, and please enjoy!

As much fun as Harry had had staying in Diagon Alley the last two weeks of the summer, he was very happy to return with his friends to Hogwarts, the first and truly only home he’d ever known. Even if the warmth and comfort of the school seemed to be slightly overtaken by the chill of Azkaban’s guards in the wake of Sirius Black’s escape.

Inside the school, things were perhaps stranger than ever. They had three new professors and two new classes — or five in Hermione’s case, which seemed to be driving Ron spare trying to work out how she expected to take them.

The morning of their first lessons for the year, they came upon Hagrid just as they were leaving the Great Hall.

“Hullo, yeh three!”

“Congratulations, Hagrid,” Harry told him. After the announcement at the Welcome Feast, he better understood why Hagrid had sent him _The Monster Book of Monsters_ for his birthday, a gift that had been alarming until he had read the hastily scribbled postscript at the bottom of his friend’s letter on how to calm the seemingly rabid book.

“Got any tips on what to expect in class?” Ron asked. The question seemed casual enough, but they had all worried last night just what Hagrid might deem appropriate for a lesson. The giant man often believed creatures to be far less dangerous than they actually were.

Hagrid shook his head with a grin. “Can’ say, Ron. That’d be givin’ yeh special treatment.”

“That’s true,” Hermione agreed. “But you did send Professor Dumbledore your plans?”

“Oh yeah. He signed right off on ‘em. Nothin’ to worry abou’ there. But how were yer summers, eh? Saw yer family in the paper, Ron.”

“Yeah, Egypt was brilliant. And Hermione went to France.”

“It was wonderful. And for my birthday, my parents gave me some extra money to get a pet, and I chose a cat,” she told Hagrid excitedly.

Ron’s smile immediately turned to a scowl. “And a horrible cat at that. He hates Scabbers!”

For a single moment, Harry thought he saw Hagrid’s eyes widen. “Well, cats an’ rats don’ often make nice with each other,” he said, a little louder than Harry thought necessary. “But I’m sure yer cat will settle righ’ in, Hermione. An’ Scabbers, er, I wouldn’ worry so much. He’s made it this long, hasn’ he?”

“Yeah, but he’s old. And he’s gotten sick recently. He’s losing weight and fur,” Ron told him.

“I could have a look at him,” Hagrid offered. “Jus’ bring him round.”

“That should help,” Harry said quickly, seeing an end to the brewing feud between his two friends and seizing it with both hands. “Thanks, Hagrid.”

“Yeah, yeh’ll have ter come down ter see me sometime,” Hagrid insisted. “Want yeh all ter meet Grimm!”

“What?” Asked Ron hoarsely.

“Who’s Grimm?” Harry asked.

“Me new pet! Friend o’ mine gave him ter me this summer, said he thought it’d pick me up after what I went through last year.”

“Well, that’s very nice, Hagrid,” said Hermione.

“But his name’s Grimm? And he’s a dog?” Ron checked. “Hagrid, you’ve got to know about Grims.”

“Course I do. But it’s pure codswallop, Ron. Grims don’ mean no one harm. Anyway, come down fer tea some time.” He began walking to the large front doors. “An’ I’ll see yeh after lunch fer yer firs’ class!”

“I can’t believe he’s got himself a Grim!” Ron exclaimed as they headed up the marble staircase to retrieve their books for the day. “There’s no way I’m bringing Scabbers down there!”

“What’s wrong with him having a dog named Grimm?” Harry asked.

“Because a Grim isn’t just a dog. It’s an omen of death,” Ron said.

“It’s a superstition,” Hermione argued. “There’s no proof.”

“No proof? My Great Uncle Bilius saw one and died the same day!”

“Yes, but he didn’t die _because_ of the Grim. It was a coincidence, or your uncle worked himself into a fright because he believed a Grim meant death.”

“In a way, it sort of did in that case,” Harry pointed out, which apparently helped little in settling the argument.

Their very first class provided no escape from Grims. Professor Trelawney, who resembled a bug shrouded in her shawls and peering at them all through her large glasses, proclaimed she saw a Grim in Harry’s own tea leaves. According to her, it meant he was marked for death. Though Hermione was disbelieving and Professor McGonagall echoed those sentiments in Transfiguration, Harry felt his spirits hardly raised by the time they were heading across the grounds to reach Hagrid’s for Care of Magical Creatures.

“We can’t let you see Hagrid’s new pet,” Ron decided. “It’s just too risky.”

They remained back a ways when they reached Hagrid’s Hut, though Harry supposed he needn’t have worried as Hagrid led them around to a paddock where nothing at all like a Grim waited. Instead, they were introduced to Hippogriffs. One of them, named Buckbeak, Hagrid asked Harry to demonstrate how to greet properly before encouraging him to ride the animal.

Though nothing at all like a broom, which was by far his preference, the experience of flying on the Hippogriff’s back was one he was unlikely to forget. Harry thought his friend’s first lesson was going quite well, but of course Malfoy had to ruin things by insulting Buckbeak.

The Hippogriff reared up on his hind legs, and Harry’s mouth opened to shout a warning—

A sharp bark had Harry’s head turning, and he came face to face with the very Grim Professor Trelawney had described. Large enough to appear like a small bear, it leapt off the rock it had been perched upon, paws powerfully colliding with Malfoy and sending them both to the ground before Buckbeak’s talons slashed the air.

“Whoa, Buckbeak! Easy!” Hagrid placed himself between the riled animal and Malfoy, who cowered on the ground beneath the dog.

“Get him off! He’s going to kill me!”

“He just saved you,” Harry pointed out flatly. He wasn’t sure how much damage the Hippogriff’s talons would have done, but he didn’t think it could have ended well.

The dog hopped off of Malfoy’s chest a moment later, backing up a few steps and watching Harry with intelligent grey eyes.

Hagrid finished corralling Buckbeak back into his pen with the other Hippogriffs and hurried over. “Alrigh’, Malfoy?”

“Alright? Your beast tried to kill me, and then your dog knocked me to the ground!”

“Do yeh need the Hospital Wing or not?”

“No,” Malfoy admitted sullenly.

“Then class dismissed. Everyone back ter the castle.” Hagrid passed a hand through his hair and absently patted Grimm on the head with the other. “Thanks, Grimm.”

It seemed odd praise to give to a dog rather than a human, but something in the dog’s features told him Grimm understood it exactly. Where had he even come from? Had he followed their class down from Hagrid’s Hut, and why?

“Well, I think if this teaches us all anything, it’s not to give into superstition,” Hermione stated as they walked back to the castle. “If anything, Grimm is completely the opposite of what Professor Trelawney thinks he ought to mean.”

“Maybe he saved Malfoy, but that’s almost as bad as causing someone’s death as far as I’m concerned,” Ron replied.

Harry grimaced. “Malfoy might have had it coming, but who knows what kind of trouble he could’ve gotten Hagrid into?”

Given that seeing Grimm hadn’t caused Harry to die within a day like Ron’s Great Uncle Bilius, they determined it was indeed safe enough to head down to Hagrid’s for tea that very Friday after classes.

“I still don’t know about taking Scabbers,” Ron muttered as they packed up their things at the end of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

“Hagrid knows more about animals than anyone,” Harry pointed out. “Maybe he’ll know why the rat tonic’s not been working.”

“I know. But he’s got that Grim!”

“He’s not a Grim, Ron, he’s just a large, black dog,” Hermione snapped.

Something hit the floor with a _slam._ Harry, Ron and Hermione all jumped and turned, but it was just a chair Professor Lupin was stooping to right.

“Everything alright, Professor?” Harry asked.

“Yes. Fine. Didn’t quite see it, is all.” The lines on his face seemed even deeper and more pronounced than usual, and his cheeks had gone quite pale. If you three will excuse me.” He slipped past them out of the classroom.

“What’s wrong with him? Reckon he’s got a lesson on Grims planned?” Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head with a scoff.

“Let’s just grab Scabbers and go,” Harry said, wanting to head off another round of bickering before it could get started.

Perhaps Hagrid would know a way to keep Scabbers and Crookshanks apart as well. It would help bring some peace to this already strange year.

\---

Remus tried not to be a superstitious sort. He knew better than most what kind of harm prejudgment could cause. Therefore, he was not afraid of a Grim.

After all, he had been friends with someone who could look like one for the better part of a decade. Before it had all gone wrong.

Maybe Black’s form should have always been a sign. But they had all been so close back then. None of them had dreamed they would ever be apart — except Black, of course.

Ever since the announcement of that wretched man’s escape, Remus had felt his thoughts constantly trending in these darker directions. He suspected he wouldn’t reach the equilibrium he’d struggled to maintain until Black was caught, and that had seemed unlikely given how thoroughly he had disappeared from the sights of the Ministry. They were terrified that he would make his way to Hogwarts given the things he’d been muttering in his sleep.

But was it possible Black was already here?

Remus had wondered about his former friend’s escape from Azkaban Prison. It was supposed to be impossible, yet he worried he knew the method through which Black had managed it. He was the only one alive who could know. Guilt at taking advantage of the Headmaster’s trust all those years ago had kept him from revealing Black’s illegal Animagus status all this time, and now he was faced with the fear that Black was closer than ever to achieving his goal of wiping out the Potters because of his silence.

True, Hermione’s description of a large, black dog could apply to any number of animals. But one that looked like a Grim? And one that was new this year?

Remus shuddered to think at the danger Hagrid was unknowingly living in if it turned out to be what he feared. He supposed as long as Black felt he could use the cover of being a pet, the half-giant would come to no harm. But that was assuming Black was truly sane and rational after all the years in Azkaban. And it was assuming that any of this was actually happening.

The time to chase worries and regrets around in his head was over, and the time to act was now.

He would check for himself, and if he was right, he would expose the long-held secret to Professor Dumbledore. If he was wrong, then he didn’t necessarily have to say anything. He would just continue to keep a sharp vigil for Black, that was all.

Remus went down to Hagrid’s and rapped smartly on the door. A loud, booming bark resounded, nothing like what Black had sounded like in his Animagus form, and his shoulders sagged a little. Had he just been getting worked up over nothing?

“Back,” he heard Hagrid say before the half-giant wrenched open the door. His smile of greeting froze on his face as his black eyes went wide. “Remus! Er, Professor Lupin, I mean,” he exclaimed.

“That’s alright. Hello, Hagrid. I hadn’t seen you much since I arrived, so I thought I’d come down.”

At Hagrid’s side was an older-looking boarhound, the aforementioned Grimm he could only assume. He looked nothing like Black.

As Hagrid glanced back into his Hut, Remus couldn’t help asking, “Something the matter?”

“What? Oh, no. I, er, was jus’ expecting company in a little while.”

“You were?”

“Yep. Harry an’ his friends, they’re comin’ round for tea.”

Ah, so that was why they’d been arguing about Hagrid’s dog. Remus had to wonder what Ron Weasley had been so worked up about; Grims were not usually depicted as boarhounds.

“He’s a good sort, Harry. Don’ yeh think?” Hagrid asked in the silence. Remus knew he was meant to have excused himself, part of him felt uncomfortable not doing so, but he couldn’t seem to shake Hagrid’s own unease. And was that a shuffling noise Remus heard in the Hut? It was hard to see past the half-giant and his dog.

“From what I can tell.” He had seen Harry for class twice now and on the Hogwarts Express, though he hadn’t quite found the right time or the right reason to bring up his friendship with James and Lily. Those memories were just so painful in retrospect. And there was every chance Harry had already heard everything Remus might know from someone else. Hagrid was only just one example.

“I thanked yeh fer sendin’ those photos along a couple years back, didn’ I?”

“You did, yes. But it was hardly any trouble.” He’d been happy to give them up as he couldn’t stand to look at them most days; especially the ones that had ended up in his possession after Black’s incarceration.

Hagrid’s face lit up in relief all of a sudden as he caught sight of something over Remus’ head. “There they are!”

“Hello, Hagrid. Hello, Professor Lupin,” Hermione greeted pleasantly.

“Were you visiting as well?” Harry asked, his young face watching Remus with a suspicion neither James nor Lily had ever really held at that age. It was almost as if he knew Remus had an ulterior motive to being here.

“Yes, just for a moment,” Remus said, stepping back to allow the students past him up the steps.

“Tea should be abou’ ready,” Hagrid told them.

“Where’s Grimm?” Ron demanded, one hand placed protectively over his breast pocket.

“Grimm? Oh. He’s, er, out on a walk. He likes taking ‘em on his lonesome,” Hagrid said, and for a split second, his eyes seemed to dart fearfully in Remus’ direction.

“That’s alright then,” said Ron, and he withdrew a rat from the pocket.

In a single instant, Remus became aware of a number of things: firstly, that Hagrid indeed had a second dog; that he seemed worried about Remus learning of this second dog; and that Ron’s pet rat looked an awful lot like his dead friend.

Hagrid hurriedly shut the door after Ron stepped through. A crucial moment too late, Remus snapped out of his horrified stupor.

He stepped up to the door again and tried the handle, finding it locked. As he took out his wand, he heard several things at once: a growl, a frightened squeal, Hermione’s scream and the shouts of two boys, and lastly Hagrid’s booming voice.

“Don’ kill him! _Don’ kill him!_ ”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it’s barely Saturday, but at last we have reached the conclusion of Dog’s Best Friend! I want to thank everyone who found this idea just as fun as I did while writing it, and I hope that the resolution pays off for you all. While real life things haven’t exactly gone back to normal in the six weeks since I’ve started posting this, I like to think that this might have made your days a little better. Thanks very much for reading, and enjoy!

Sirius had paced the floor in front of Hagrid’s fireplace so thoroughly by Friday afternoon that he felt surprised he hadn’t worn through the hearth rug to the wooden floor yet. But today was the day, and he couldn’t possibly sit still.

Hagrid had promised him they would get Pettigrew today.

He felt even more out of his own body than usual as his Animagus form. After all these years, he would finally stop the traitor and make him pay for James and Lily’s deaths. It felt in some ways like the end of his life as he knew it, the closing of a chapter.

Sirius wouldn’t have thought there was a chapter after that if not for Harry.

Harry was everything he had thought the boy might grow to be. James’ messy hair and assured confidence, Lily’s eyes and her helpful nature. The one thing he didn’t seem to share was their happiness; Sirius had only seen his godson smile very briefly in exhilaration after Hagrid had helped him down from the Hippogriff’s back.

He hadn’t been able to help himself in following the third year class to their lesson, not when it meant glimpsing the boy for the first time since that Halloween night. He’d made sure to stay well back behind some rocks until he’d noticed the impending disaster involving a young Malfoy — his cousin via Narcissa, he supposed, though his demeanor spoke far more of Lucius. Normally, Sirius wouldn’t have cared what happened to idiots who mouthed off to prideful creatures, but the last thing he wanted or needed was Hagrid getting in trouble. Especially considering all that the man was risking for him. And all that he was helping to arrange.

He looked up, totally alert, as Hagrid went to answer a knock at the door. It had to be time, but then Hagrid’s greeting chilled his heart.

“Remus!”

No, not here, not now when he was so close! If Remus suspected his presence, he would ruin everything and Peter would get away. He couldn’t know that he’d been wrong about the identity of the traitor just as Sirius had been wrong to suspect Remus.

Sirius looked around and squeezed himself under the bed against the far corner of the room, hoping the blankets hanging over the side might further conceal his presence. In the doorway, Hagrid kept prattling on, but Remus had yet to come in. Maybe he didn’t suspect. Maybe he was here for a simple visit by coincidence.

A set of younger voices made themselves heard, Harry’s among them. Sirius’ tail wagged once, though he kept himself low to the ground as he slowly inched out from under the bed on his stomach. He needed to be ready the moment Pettigrew was inside.

A set of shoes and girl’s stockings came through the doorway followed by another pair attached to trousers. Sirius crept around the table, coming into view just as the third boy entered carrying Peter himself.

The door closed with finality. There was no escape now. Sirius bared his teeth, a growl leaving him that Pettigrew no doubt heard. The children turned in alarm as he sprung off the ground straight at the one holding the rat. A scream and two shouts filled the small space.

Peter’s eyes widened as a squeal of sheer terror left him; he tore himself free from his owner’s hold, flying through the air. Sirius extended his jaw and closed his mouth around the wriggling animal, nearly biting down on instinct—

“Don’ kill him! _Don’ kill him!_ ” Hagrid ordered sharply. Fang yowled and cowered in the corner.

Peter kept squirming, fighting desperately to get free. As Hagrid reached a hand out, Sirius got ready to give the rat over.

“Let Scabbers go!” The Weasley boy cried out, leaping onto Sirius’ back. He made a muffled yelp at the impact, rearing back to try and shake off his attacker.

Harry was suddenly at his front, reaching toward his jaws and grabbing at the rat’s tail. “Give it here, Grimm!”

He shook his head roughly and was happy to hear Pettigrew cry out.

“Hagrid, Hagrid do something!” The girl begged.

“Harry, Ron, jus’ let me—”

The door banged open and Remus stepped through, his wand leveled straight at Sirius. “No one move.” His eyes seemed to take in the whole scene as he slowly shut the door behind him again, locking it. They landed, at last, on Sirius and the rat in his mouth.

“It’s really you,” he breathed. “Both of you.”

Pettigrew gave another pitiful squeal and tried weakly again to fight his way out. There was spittle leaking out of his jowls, but Sirius just continued to pant through his nose as he stared Remus down.

“What do you mean, Professor Lupin? Who is it?” The girl asked, curious in spite of the clear distress she felt.

“Will you transform?” Remus asked him.

Sirius nodded once.

“But the Dementors,” Hagrid protested.

“I can ward them off. It should take them some time to track him, at any rate.” Remus’ gaze shifted to the rat. “Will you transform?”

Peter made another pitiful noise, clearly attempting to pass himself off as a normal rat.

“They can understand you,” Harry said, his eyes never leaving Sirius.

“Why’s he just holding Scabbers?” The other boy asked. “Why won’t he let him go?”

“He’ll have to in a moment.” Remus flicked his wand, and a jet of blue light hit Pettigrew in the face. Sirius felt the rat start to grow and change and spat him out, backing up and changing back as well for the first time in nearly two weeks.

Another scream left the girl, though it hurt his human ears less.

“But he’s — and what—” the boy — Ron, he thought Hagrid might have said — gaped between him and Peter as the rat had disappeared and was now replaced with a man.

Harry, Sirius noted with pride, had drawn his own wand but seemed unsure where to point it.

When the blue light faded and Peter Pettigrew at last stood before them, he stood wringing his hands and cringing away from Remus, Hagrid and Sirius’ hard stares. In rumpled clothes with clear drool stains, he looked a sorry sight, as pathetic on the outside now as his character warranted.

“Remus, my friend. Thank you. Thank you for saving me.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve been saved or not, Peter. That depends on what you’ve done since your widely-reported death.”

“But if he was Ron’s rat,” the girl began, looking awfully pale. “Then he was an Animagus. And the dog…” She gazed at Sirius with fear.

“Yes, I’m one as well. It’s how I escaped,” he admitted freely.

“But then why go after him?” Harry asked, gesturing at Peter. “They said you’d come after me.”

“They’re right about that,” Peter said quickly. “The things he did, Lily and James—”

“That’s the last time you say their names,” Sirius snarled, taking a step towards him. Pettigrew shrunk in on himself. Only Remus’ wand still trained on them both kept him from moving any further. He worked to calm himself before turning to his godson. “I did break out to get to you, Harry. But not to hurt you. I was the only one who knew what danger you were in.”

“Not the only,” Remus countered. “When did Sirius approach you, Hagrid?”

“In Azkaban,” the half-giant admitted. “They put me in the cell next ter his, an’ he helped me. The Dementors, they were drivin’ me mad, the things I was seein’.” He shuddered. “But Sirius told me his secret. That if yeh were innocent, it was something ter hang on with an’ keep yer sanity.”

“Innocent?” Ron echoed. “But he’s You-Know-Who’s right-hand man!”

“Never,” Sirius said. “And this worthless worm wasn’t either. He was just a spy.”

“The true spy,” Remus agreed quietly. “But how did he betray them, Sirius?”

He looked down. “It was my fault.”

“Did you hear him, Remus?” Peter cried again, his voice rising with panic. “He admits it’s still his fault!”

“Only because I was too stupid to trust you, and it led James and Lily to their deaths,” Sirius snapped.

“You don’t mean — my parents?” Harry stepped forward, his wand now decidedly pointed at Pettigrew. “What have they got to do with it?”

“Everything. They were our friends. All of us. And when they went into hiding with you, they asked us to keep them safe.”

“How?”

“The Fidelius Charm,” Remus stated, and Sirius could picture him at the front of his new classroom now. “An old magic meant to guard a secret. A location or residence, oftentimes. It requires the knowledge to be placed with a Secret Keeper. Only they can divulge the secret.”

“James wanted it to be me. I was his best friend, we were closer than brothers,” Sirius said, his voice growing gruff as he stared into Harry’s widened eyes. “But I thought it was too obvious, that Voldemort would realize and torture it out of me.”

Of the children, Harry was the only one who did not jump or react with fear. Even Hagrid winced, and Peter cringed away.

He bared his teeth in a savage grin. “What’s wrong, Peter? Afraid to hear your master’s name? Or feeling guilt remembering that the minute I convinced Lily and James to make the switch, you ran off to tell him?”

“I didn’t — he forced me, Sirius, I swear! You don’t know the weapons the Dark Lord had, you don’t understand—”

“That’s enough,” Remus said coldly. “Whatever reason you had for betraying them, you chose to frame Sirius and to kill those Muggles. You’re guilty, Peter. And you can’t hide from it any longer. _Stupefy!_ ”

Pettigrew dropped to the floor like a stone. Remus followed it up by magically creating binds that wrapped around him hand and foot. “Hagrid, we’ll need Headmaster Dumbledore.”

“O’ course.” Hagrid turned to the children. “Yeh three alrigh’?”

The girl nodded, though she still seemed very frightened. The boy named Ron seemed far more likely to be sick as he stared at Pettigrew’s prone form, and Sirius certainly wouldn’t blame him if he was. Harry kept switching his gaze from Sirius to Pettigrew, but he nodded stiffly as well. Hagrid cast another glance around the cabin before hurriedly leaving, and his footfalls faded away. The room was left in silence.

“I hope you can forgive me Remus, for thinking you were the traitor,” Sirius said quietly. It was one of many regrets he had held the many years in Azkaban.

“Only if you can forgive me for thinking the same of you,” Remus replied. He strode across the room, and they embraced as brothers.

“But Mr. Black,” the girl said, and Sirius was so startled that he broke away from Remus to gawk at her. “If you were innocent this whole time, why didn’t you say anything at your trial?”

“Yeah, why didn’t you tell anyone their pets might be people?” Ron demanded shakily.

“I might have had the chance if I’d had a trial,” Sirius replied. “But I didn’t know where Pettigrew had been until I saw his picture in the _Daily Prophet_ the Minister lent me on his visit.”

“Ah, so that’s what motivated you,” Remus said. “And when you broke out, Hagrid was able to secret you to Hogwarts as his own pet.”

Sirius shrugged. “It was his own suggestion, before we even knew about Pettigrew still being out there. He thought here at least I could see…” he trailed off as his gaze went to Harry.

“Me? Why would you want to see me? It was my parents you were friends with,” the boy pointed out, and the matter-of-fact way he seemed to convey he should hardly matter to Sirius tore at something within him.

“Yes, I was. But more than that, Harry. When you were born, they named me your godfather.” He walked around the table slowly, stopping just a few feet away. “I didn’t get to see you much as a baby. They had to take you into hiding, but… the idea was that, should anything happen to them, that I would take care of you. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to do that.”

He glanced up through the hair in his face, surprised to see Harry swallow down something like a lump in his throat. “I was supposed to live with you? Not the Dursleys?”

“That’s what we arranged. Of course, if Dumbledore clears all this up, I wouldn’t want to disturb you and your family.” All the time that Hagrid had talked to him about Harry, he hadn’t let himself believe he might have this chance to speak with him, to become a part of his life. “But once I’ve found myself a place, you’d be welcome there.”

“I could live with you?” Harry repeated, and it occurred to Sirius that he wasn’t upset by the idea so much as it not being a reality. He wished he didn’t recognize the desperate hope in the boy’s eyes, an echo of his own at sixteen, when he’d ran away to the Potters’ house.

“If you wanted,” he answered, and he hoped it was as gentle and warm as the Potters’ offer had been. A chill went through him, and he shuddered. “Remus.”

“They might be coming. Hermione, watch Peter,” Remus instructed, slipping out the door of Hagrid’s Hut.

“Who’s coming? The Dementors?” Ron looked about to panic, but it was Harry he looked at rather than Sirius. “Harry, you’ve got to get out of here!”

“I’m not leaving either of them,” Harry argued, though he had gone very pale.

Sirius slowly sank down to the floor, holding his head between his hands. He couldn’t go back there, he couldn’t survive it. Couldn’t lose the happy feeling that had only just started to grow in his heart while speaking to his godson.

There was a mournful howl from Fang, and in his foggy vision he watched Harry fall into a chair, his friend Ron shaking his shoulder.

 _“Expecto Patronum!”_ A voice commanded, though it wasn’t Remus’. Moments later, Albus Dumbledore swept into the Hut.

“I see it is as Hagrid has said.” Another set of binds were conjured around Pettigrew, who was then levitated off the floor. “Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, if you would please escort Mr. Potter and Black to the Hospital Wing. Professor Lupin and I shall see Mr. Pettigrew safely turned over to the authorities.”

Ron hauled Harry up to his feet and started moving him towards the door.

“Er, come on, boy,” Hermione encouraged as she turned to him. It was only then that Sirius realized he had changed back into his Animagus form. Likely for the best if they were going to enter the school. He rose on shaky legs and followed the children out of the Hut.

“This is mental!” He heard Ron exclaim in a hushed whisper. “I can’t believe Scabbers was a person this whole time. I let him sleep in my _bed!_ ”

“I just can’t believe Hagrid managed to keep a secret this huge,” Hermione whispered back. “Or that Harry has a godfather.”

Harry continued to shuffle along between them, his hands hanging limply at his sides. Sirius picked his paws up a little faster so that he could nuzzle the one. Harry stirred slightly, patting Sirius’ snout. His fingers reached back to tangle in Sirius’ fur, forcing Hermione slightly to the side as Sirius came up to walk with him to the Hospital Wing.

It was over. Peter was caught and Harry was safe. He was free. Hagrid’s plan had actually worked.

He had a feeling he wouldn’t believe it until he’d recovered from the Dementor’s effects. So Sirius hopped up onto the end of the bed Harry was shown to and felt himself drift off to sleep.

\---

It took far more convincing than Rubeus would have liked, but the Minister eventually let Professor Dumbledore have his way about questioning Pettigrew in front of the Wizengamot. Rubeus was asked to attend as a witness.

“Please tell the court exactly what led you to the discovery of Mr. Pettigrew’s continued existence among the living?” The Headmaster asked him kindly.

Rubeus did his best not to notice all the other witches and wizards watching him and just focused on his story. “Well, when I was sent ter Azkaban las’ spring — on false charges, mind yeh — I was placed in the cell next to Sirius. I wasn’ very happy abou’ that at the start, but then he helped me.”

“Helped you how?”

“He showed me how focusin’ on being innocent instead o’ happy things helped the Dementors from affectin’ me so much. When I asked him how a criminal like him could know that, he told me his story.”

“And you believed him?”

“Every word. The other inmates believe him, too. They sit there day and night cursin’ that Pettigrew’s name fer givin’ You-Know-Who the information what led to his downfall.”

Professor Dumbledore didn’t ask him any further questions, which Rubeus was grateful for. He’d rather not get into just how long he’d been aware of Sirius’ whereabouts after his escape and all that.

They brought Pettigrew out for questioning, but rather than focus on the pitiful man, Rubeus watched the members of the Wizengamot. He thought he could see their expressions shifting, though from what to what he couldn’t say. He only hoped it meant good things for Sirius.

“Witches and wizards of the Wizengamot,” Professor Dumbledore spoke as Pettigrew was dragged away, “it seems clear that a grave miscarriage of justice was done. I move that the charges against Sirius Black be dropped and that he be declared a free man.”

The assembled members put it to vote, and Rubeus nervously counted. When he passed the halfway mark, a great breath left him. All told, it was something like two-thirds!

“Hem-hem,” one of the dissenters coughed. “I wonder, Supreme Mugwump, will we be putting the matter of Black’s illegal Animagus status to a vote? After all, he did break the law.”

Rubeus gaped at the tiny witch. She couldn’t be serious!

Madam Bones from the DMLE spoke before Professor Dumbledore needed to. “Black’s more than served the time for such an offense. Given his status as a minor when he achieved the transformation — impressive at that — that’s even more true. I’d rather we vote on a measure to check all the current inmates of Azkaban for such abilities.”

There were general murmurings of assent from the other members, and the matter was scheduled for the next meeting. Rubeus left the visitor’s bench to meet Professor Dumbledore.

“Hagrid, you were marvelous,” the Headmaster told him. He felt like blushing.

“I only told the truth.”

“Yes, and I can only be glad the truth has come out at last. You did a very good thing for Sirius.”

He’d worried how the Headmaster might feel about his keeping secrets and all, but it seemed he understood. That lifted a weight right off his shoulders.

Sirius had been transferred to St. Mungo’s by the time Rubeus got back to the castle with Professor Dumbledore, though Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting eagerly at his cabin to hear all the details.

“He’s completely cleared,” Rubeus told him. “They reckon seein’ as he spent so long in Azkaban there’s no need to penalize him for the illegal Animagus bit. He’ll jus’ be registered now.”

“How long will he be in St. Mungo’s?” Harry wanted to know.

“No way to tell. He’s a sharp one when he needs ter be, but Azkaban isn’ a place to stick around long. He’s healthier now o’ course, but it’s his head they’ll be hopin’ ter heal.”

Harry accepted this answer, and he seemed even happier when Rubeus offered to go through the album he’d gifted Harry and point out the few instances of Sirius in the photos. He sent out another round of owls to the old crowd, seeing if anyone might have hung onto anything else with him in it, seeing as they’d all thought Sirius a criminal the first time he’d asked for pictures.

Another wealth of information for Harry was Remus, who had gotten over what had been holding him back before and now seemed happy to share all the stories he could remember with the boy. Rubeus supposed it helped now that the man didn’t feel the need to edit Sirius out of them; he’d always been right in the middle of things with James, after all, and Pettigrew was far easier to ignore.

The Dementors had been removed from around the school, which left everyone eager to head down to Hogsmeade village for the first weekend of the year. Including Harry, who’d received a signed permission slip from Sirius in the mail the morning of. Rubeus had managed to find a fresh copy on a visit to the staff room and sent it along earlier in the month along with his usual letter.

Christmas holiday came, and Rubeus was proud to be part of the escort that took Harry to visit his godfather in his private room. Remus came along as well, seeing as they’d timed it after his most recent recovery from the full moon.

“I had to send an owl order, so I haven’t gotten a look at it, yet,” Sirius told Harry as he passed a long, thin package his way. “I hear you’ve got a pretty good one already, but James always thought it was a good idea to have one for practices and matches and one for the offseason. You can decide which is which.”

Rubeus couldn’t hold in a chuckle as Harry’s eyes went wide as dinner plates upon unwrapping the broom that sat inside. “This is a Firebolt! I can’t believe — you really didn’t have to.”

“I’ve more money in my vault than I know what to do with and twelve years of presents to make up for,” Sirius reminded him. “There’s loads of things I want to pass down, too, but I’ve no idea where my possessions ended up.”

“I think some were sent in a box to your mother,” Remus told him.

Sirius grimaced. “Probably burned them, then. That’s another thing I wanted to talk about.” He sat up a little straighter. Rubeus was glad to see there was an awareness and light in Sirius’ eyes that had been somewhat lacking those first months after his escape. “I’ll need somewhere to live once they let me out of here. It’s a little difficult searching from a hospital ward.”

“I can stop by Diagon Alley fer the catalogues.” They kept up a list of available houses that didn’t have all the outlets and other things Muggles filled their houses with.

“Something out in the country,” Sirius was saying.

“You could have a pitch like the Weasleys have got,” Harry told him, and Sirius smiled wide at the idea.

There was a sudden _pop,_ and a witch suddenly materialized and slid down the far wall by the door to crash on the floor. She gave a frantic shake of the head. “What?”

Remus got his wand out and Sirius yanked Harry around to the other side of the bed as Rubeus moved forward. “Skeeter?” He rumbled. “How’d yeh get in here?”

The _Daily Prophet’s_ rising star looked just as perplexed to be talking to Rubeus as he was to be talking to her. “Well I- I certainly didn’t mean—”

Remus strode past him to call out into the corridor. “Healer? We need security.”

It turned out Rita Skeeter had fallen victim to the Anti-Animagus Charms they had put up around Sirius’ room. The Healers wanted him to stay in his own human mind as much as possible for the time being rather than retreating into the dog’s form. Skeeter’s hopes to get a scoop in her own undisclosed beetle form proved her downfall.

The spring term came and went. Harry took the Gryffindor Quidditch team to victory with a far and away lead on his Firebolt, and just after Easter Sirius wrote to say he had closed the sale on a house.

This meant that most of Harry’s summer was looking up. However, Professor Dumbledore insisted that Harry go back to the Dursleys for the couple weeks that it would take Sirius to finish furnishing his new house and setting up protections, some of which were provided courtesy of old Mad-Eye Moody. None of them were all that pleased at Harry’s return to Privet Drive, but Rubeus reminded his young friend to just let his relatives know his convicted godfather had been released and was keeping in touch; he didn’t have to say he’d been released because he was innocent.

On the 31st of July that summer, Rubeus headed down into the country for a day with some homemade fudge and a motorbike for a gathering of godson, godfather, old friends and a family of redheads. “It’s Harry’s birthday, but I realized I had somethin’ o’ yours as well, Sirius,” he explained in greeting.

Sirius barked a laugh and pulled Rubeus into a hug. He lifted his friend off his feet and hugged him back.


End file.
